U.S. patent application number 15/257594 was filed with the patent office on 2016-12-22 for system and method for harq for cellular integrated d2d communications.
The applicant listed for this patent is Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Mohammadhadi Baligh, Jianglei Ma, Amine Maaref.
Application Number | 20160373216 15/257594 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50932451 |
Filed Date | 2016-12-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160373216 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Maaref; Amine ; et
al. |
December 22, 2016 |
System and Method for HARQ for Cellular Integrated D2D
Communications
Abstract
System and method embodiments are provided to support network
communications with groups of UEs. The embodiments include a
two-level group-based hybrid-automatic repeat request (HARQ)
mechanism and acknowledgement (ACK)/negative ACK (NACK) feedback.
An embodiment method includes receiving, at a UE within a virtual
multi-point (ViMP) comprising UEs, a data packet for a target UE
(TUE) that is broadcasted from a base station (BS) to the ViMP
node, decode the data packet, and upon successfully decoding the
data packet, broadcasting the data packet to the UEs within the
ViMP node until a timer pre-established by the BS expires or an ACK
message is received from the TUE or the ViMP node. In an
embodiment, broadcasted data received in the ViMP node is
re-broadcasted upon receiving a negative acknowledgment (NACK)
message from the TUE, a beacon UE, or any of the UEs within the
ViMP node.
Inventors: |
Maaref; Amine; (Kanata,
CA) ; Baligh; Mohammadhadi; (Ottawa, CA) ; Ma;
Jianglei; (Ottawa, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. |
Shenzhen |
|
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
50932451 |
Appl. No.: |
15/257594 |
Filed: |
September 6, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14881651 |
Oct 13, 2015 |
9479292 |
|
|
15257594 |
|
|
|
|
13829188 |
Mar 14, 2013 |
9172512 |
|
|
14881651 |
|
|
|
|
61738907 |
Dec 18, 2012 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 1/1816 20130101;
H04L 1/0076 20130101; H03M 13/2906 20130101; H04L 1/1829 20130101;
H03M 13/1102 20130101; H04W 76/14 20180201; H04L 2001/0097
20130101; H04L 1/1607 20130101; H04L 1/08 20130101; H04L 1/188
20130101; H04L 12/189 20130101; H04L 2001/0093 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 1/08 20060101
H04L001/08; H04L 1/18 20060101 H04L001/18; H04L 1/16 20060101
H04L001/16 |
Claims
1. A method for two-level hybrid-automatic repeat request (HARD)
signaling, the method comprising: receiving, at a first user
equipment (UE), a data packet broadcasted by a base station (BS)
for a second UE; successfully decoding the data packet; without
receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) message or a negative ACK (NACK)
message from the second UE, broadcasting, by the first UE, the data
packet; and without receiving a NACK message from the second UE,
rebroadcasting, by the first UE, the data packet until either the
first UE receives another broadcast of the data packet from the BS,
or the first UE receives an ACK message from the second UE.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data packet rebroadcasted to
the second UE comprises a network coded version of the received and
decoded data packet.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the network coded version
comprises a linear combination of successfully decoded packets.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the decoded packets are combined
using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along with
information on which packets were network coded.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the decoded packets are combined
using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along with
information on which packets were network coded.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data packet rebroadcasted to
the second UE comprises a network coded version of additional coded
symbols using concatenated low-density parity check (LDPC)
coding.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the network coded version
comprises a linear combination of successfully decoded packets.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the decoded packets are combined
using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along with
information on which packets were network coded.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the decoded packets are combined
using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along with
information on which packets were network coded.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the data packet rebroadcasted to
the second UE comprises a network coded version of a given
redundancy version using turbo coding.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the network coded version
comprises a linear combination of successfully decoded packets.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
14. The method of claim 1, the data packet is rebroadcasted by the
first UE separated from rebroadcasts by other UEs in at least one
of a time domain, a frequency domain or a code domain.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the
broadcasting, the first UE mapping a HARQ redundancy version and/or
a different low-density parity check (LDPC) codeword for the data
packet to an orthogonal signature, wherein the HARQ redundancy
version and/or LDPC codeword is different from HARQ redundancy
versions and LDPC codewords mapped to orthogonal signatures by
other rebroadcasting UEs.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the
BS, data packets with different HARQ redundancy versions,
low-density parity check (LDPC) codewords, or both for different
UEs, wherein the different HARQ redundancy versions and LDPC
codewords are mapped to orthogonal signatures; and rebroadcasting
the data packets to the different UEs.
17. A method for two-level hybrid-automatic repeat request (HARD)
signaling, the method comprising: receiving, at a first user
equipment (UE), a data packet broadcasted from a base station (BS)
for a second UE; successfully decoding the data packet; without
receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) message or a negative ACK (NACK)
message from the second UE, broadcasting, by the first UE, the data
packet; receiving, by the first UE, the NACK message from the
second UE; rebroadcasting, by the first UE, the data packet in
response to receiving the NACK message; and receiving either
another broadcast of the data packet from the BS or an ACK message
from the second UE.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the data packet rebroadcasted
to the second UE comprises a network coded version of the received
and decoded data packet.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the network coded version
comprises a linear combination of successfully decoded packets.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein the data packet rebroadcasted
to the second UE comprises a network coded version of additional
coded symbols using concatenated low-density parity check (LDPC)
coding.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the network coded version
comprises a linear combination of successfully decoded packets.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
25. The method of claim 23, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
26. The method of claim 17, wherein the data packet rebroadcasted
to the second UE comprises a network coded version of a given
redundancy version using turbo coding.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the network coded version
comprises a linear combination of successfully decoded packets.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein the decoded packets are
combined using coefficients that are sent to the second UE along
with information on which packets were network coded.
30. The method of claim 17, the data packet is rebroadcasted by the
first UE separated from rebroadcasts by other UEs in at least one
of a time domain, a frequency domain or a code domain.
31. The method of claim 17, further comprising, prior to the
broadcasting, the first UE mapping a HARQ redundancy version and/or
a different low-density parity check (LDPC) codeword for the data
packet to an orthogonal signature, wherein the HARQ redundancy
version and/or LDPC codeword is different from HARQ redundancy
versions and LDPC codewords mapped to orthogonal signatures by
other rebroadcasting UEs.
32. The method of claim 17, further comprising: receiving, from the
BS, data packets with different HARQ redundancy versions,
low-density parity check (LDPC) codewords, or both for different
UEs, wherein the different HARQ redundancy versions and LDPC
codewords are mapped to orthogonal signatures; and rebroadcasting
the data packets to the different UEs.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/881,651 filed on Oct. 13, 2015 filed and
entitled "System and Method for Terminal-Group Based HARQ for
Cellular Integrated D2D Communications," which is a continuation of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/829,188 filed on Mar. 14, 2013
and entitled "System and Method for Terminal-Group Based HARQ for
Cellular Integrated D2D Communications," which claims the benefit
of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/738,907 filed on Dec. 18,
2012 and entitled "System and Method for Network Coding Assisted
Terminal-Group Based HARQ," all of which applications are hereby
incorporated herein by reference as if reproduced in their
entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of wireless
communications, and, in particular embodiments, to a system and
method for terminal-group based HARQ for cellular integrated
device-to-device (D2D) communications.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Direct mobile communications (DMC) and cellular controlled
device to device (D2D) communications are expected to play a
significant role in next generation wireless networks. User
equipment (UE) cooperation based on D2D communications is one
technology that is receiving attention. With advances in D2D
communications, UE cooperation is expected to play a role in the
future of wireless communications. This technology can be used to
provide diversity in space, time and frequency, and increase the
robustness against fading and interference. In UE cooperation, the
D2D communications are used to establish joint UE reception, where
some of the UEs act as relays for other UEs to improve system
throughput and coverage. However, joint UE reception using D2D
communications can also increase the complexity of the network
communications, such as for hybrid-automatic repeat request (HARQ)
signaling. The HARQ mechanism is a link adaptation technique that
can improve communications (for erroneous data packets) in current
wireless cellular networks. However, current implementations of
HARQ do not take UE grouping into account and do not efficiently
exploit D2D UE cooperation capabilities. Therefore, there is a need
for efficient schemes that leverage UE cooperation and D2D
communications with the HARQ mechanism.
SUMMARY
[0004] In accordance with an embodiment, a method for supporting
two-level terminal-group based hybrid-automatic repeat request
(HARQ) signaling includes receiving, at a (UE) within a virtual
multi-point (ViMP) node of UEs, a data packet for a target UE (TUE)
that is broadcasted from a base station (BS) to the ViMP node,
attempting to decode the data packet, and upon successfully
decoding the data packet, broadcasting the data packet within the
ViMP node until a timer pre-established by the BS has expired or an
acknowledgement (ACK) message is received from the TUE or the ViMP
node.
[0005] In another embodiment, a method for supporting two-level
terminal-group based HARQ signaling includes receiving, at a UE
within a ViMP node of UEs, a data packet that is broadcasted from a
BS to the ViMP node and intended for the UE, attempting to decode
the data packet, and upon successfully decoding the data packet,
broadcasting an ACK message within the ViMP node and to the BS.
[0006] In another embodiment, a method for supporting two-level
terminal-group based HARQ signaling includes broadcasting, at a BS,
a data packet for a target UE (TUE) to a ViMP node comprising UEs
including the TUE, initiating a timer with a pre-determined time
limit upon broadcasting the data packet, and re-broadcasting the
data packet to the ViMP node upon the timer reaching the time limit
absent of receiving an ACK message from the TUE.
[0007] In yet another embodiment, a UE supporting two-level
terminal-group based HARQ signaling includes a processor and a
computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution
by the processor. The programming includes instructions to receive,
within a ViMP node comprising multiple UEs, a data packet for a TUE
that is broadcasted from a BS to the ViMP node, attempt to decode
the data packet, and upon successfully decoding the data packet,
broadcast the data packet within the ViMP node until a timer
pre-established by the BS has expired or an ACK message is received
from the TUE.
[0008] In another embodiment, a UE supporting two-level
terminal-group based HARQ signaling includes a processor and a
computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution
by the processor. The programming includes instructions to receive,
within a ViMP node comprising multiple UEs, a data packet that is
broadcasted from a BS to the ViMP node and intended for the UE,
attempt to decode the data packet, and upon successfully decoding
the data packet, broadcasting an ACK message within the ViMP node
and to the BS.
[0009] In another embodiment, a network component supporting
two-level terminal-group based HARQ signaling includes a processor
and a computer readable storage medium storing programming for
execution by the processor. The programming includes instructions
to broadcast a data packet for a TUE to a ViMP node comprising UEs
including the TUE, initiating a timer with a pre-determined time
limit upon broadcasting the data packet, and re-broadcasting the
data packet to the ViMP node upon the timer reaching the time limit
until receiving an ACK message from the TUE.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] For a more complete understanding of the present invention,
and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following
descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in
which:
[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates D2D communications with UE
cooperation;
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a B S communicating with cooperating
UEs;
[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a cooperative HARQ
mechanism;
[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a two-level HARQ scheme
with a timer and without NACK feedback;
[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a two-level HARQ scheme
with a timer and second-level NACK feedback;
[0016] FIG. 6 illustrates a UE time/frequency resource grid;
and
[0017] FIG. 7 illustrates a processing system that can be used to
implement various embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0018] The making and using of the presently preferred embodiments
are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however,
that the present invention provides many applicable inventive
concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific
contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely
illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, and do
not limit the scope of the invention.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for D2D communications with
UE cooperation. A plurality of UEs cooperate to form a
logical/virtual multi-point (ViMP) node 130 acting as single
distributed virtual transceiver. The term ViMP node can also be
referred to herein as a UE group, cooperating UEs, or a joint
reception/transmission group. A ViMP node 130 includes a set of
target UEs (TUEs) 120 and cooperating UEs (CUEs) 125. The CUEs 125
help the TUEs 120 communicate with a wireless network (not shown),
e.g., to receive data on the downlink and/or transmit data on the
uplink. As such, the UEs of the ViMP node 130 can jointly transmit
data on the uplink channel and jointly receive data on the downlink
channel.
[0020] Downlink ViMP reception involves two stages. In the downlink
broadcast phase, the network broadcasts a data packet to the ViMP
receiver (Rx) node 130 using ViMP-radio network temporary
identifier (RNTI). Depending on the ViMP cooperation scenario
(e.g., capacity enhancement, coverage extension, or other
scenarios), both TUEs 120 and CUEs 125 listen and try to decode the
data packet during this phase. In the D2D data forwarding phase,
the CUEs 125 forward some information to the TUEs 120 to help them
decode the information broadcast by the network during the first
phase. Information sent by the CUEs 125 during this phase depends
on the ViMP cooperation strategy (e.g., decode-and-forward (DF),
amplify-and-forward (AF), joint reception (JR), or other
strategies).
[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates a system 200 for a base station (BS)
communicating with cooperating UEs. A BS 210 communicates in a
downlink with a ViMP Rx node 230 that includes a TUE 220 and one or
more CUEs 225 (only one is shown), within a coverage range or cell
range 240 of the BS 210. Depending on the DF relaying protocol, the
whole codeword is decoded by the CUE 225 before forwarding the
whole or part of the message. If the CUE 225 cannot successfully
decode a packet, the CUE 225 can still help by cooperatively
sending subsets of their log-likelihood ratios (LLRs).
[0022] Currently, the HARQ mechanism does not take UE grouping,
such as in systems 100 and 200, into account and hence cannot
efficiently take advantage of the D2D UE cooperation capabilities.
System and method embodiments are provided to support network (or
BS) communications with groups of UEs (e.g., in ViMP nodes). The
embodiments include enhanced group-based retransmission mechanisms,
e.g., a group-based HARQ scheme, and advanced ACK/NACK protocols,
as described below.
[0023] In an embodiment for terminal-group based HARQ for cellular
integrated D2D communications, a two-level HARQ mechanism is
implemented to exploit the group nature of the virtual multi-point
(ViMP) transceiver (also referred to herein as a terminal-group
transceiver) to enable efficient retransmission of erroneous data
packets in a D2D-enabled wireless cellular network. Examples of
cellular networks with D2D capability include but are not limited
to 3GPP LTE, LTE-A, IEEE WiMAX, and similar systems. The two-level
terminal group-based HARQ mechanism also exploits the broadcast
nature of the wireless channel. The second level of the mechanism
includes a distributed HARQ scheme that provides low signaling
overhead. The mechanism assisted by network coding, which reduces
the number of required retransmissions, provides more efficient
HARQ, and improves throughput.
[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a terminal-group based
or cooperative HARQ mechanism 300. A group 315 of one or more BS
310 in the network sends N packets p.sub.1, p.sub.2, . . . ,
P.sub.N (N is an integer) to a plurality of TUEs 325 in a ViMP node
330. The packets can be sent sequentially over time during N
broadcast phases, e.g., if there is a single TUE 320 in the ViMP
node 330. Less than N broadcast phases may be used if there are
multiple TUEs 320 in the ViMP node 330 or in case of UEs supporting
multi-rank transmissions. Each packet is controlled by a separate
HARQ process. During each broadcast phase, the TUE 320 and all the
involved CUEs 325 try to decode. During the data forwarding phase,
the CUEs 325 forward to the TUEs 320 a network coded version of:
(i) the same original packets they have successfully decoded (e.g.
p=p.sub.1 .sym. P.sub.2 .sym. . . . p.sub.N), (ii) additional coded
symbols in case of a concatenated low-density parity-check (LDPC)
coding scheme for half-duplex decode-and-forward (DF) relays,
and/or (iii) a given redundancy version, e.g., using Turbo-Coding.
Based on the soft information that the TUE(s) 320 receive for
p.sub.1, p.sub.2, . . . , p.sub.N from a BS 310 or the group 315
and the additional information forwarded by the CUEs 325, the
TUE(s) 320 try to decode their own packets. If a TUE 320 is able to
decode a packet, it broadcasts an acknowledgement (ACK) message
within the ViMP node 330 and back to the BS 310 or the group
315.
[0025] The network coded packet transmitted by each CUE 325 is not
necessarily based on an XOR operation, which corresponds to
operation in a Gallois Field of order 2, GF(2). An operation in any
GF(2.sup.n) where n>1 is also possible, in which case the
network coded packet may consist of any linear combination of the
successfully decoded packets according to:
p=.alpha..sub.1p.sub.1+.alpha..sub.2p.sub.2+ . . .
+.alpha..sub.Np.sub.N,
where .alpha..sub.1, .alpha..sub.2, . . . , .alpha..sub.N are
coefficients that are sent to the TUE 320 along with the
information on which packets were network coded. In another
embodiment, the coefficients .alpha..sub.1, .alpha..sub.2, . . . ,
.alpha..sub.N can be known beforehand and do not need to be
forwarded by the CUEs 325.
[0026] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a two-level HARQ scheme
400 without NACK feedback, which can be used in the HARQ mechanism
300. At a first level of the HARQ scheme 400 between an eNB (or a
BS) and a ViMP node (or UE group), the eNB sends a packet to the UE
group, and a timer is started at the eNB. While the timer
<T.sub.0(T.sub.0 is a pre-determined time limit), the TUE and
CUEs within the ViMP node try to decode the packet, and the CUEs
which successfully decode the packet broadcast the packet within
ViMP node. At a second level of the HARQ scheme 400 within the ViMP
node, the CUEs that can decode the packet, either from the first
eNB transmission or from a broadcast by other CUEs, broadcast the
packet (or another version) within the ViMP node. The second level
HARQ process within the ViMP Rx node continues until the packet is
successfully decoded by the TUE. In this case, an ACK is broadcast
within the ViMP node and sent back to the eNB. Otherwise, the
second level HARQ process within the ViMP Rx node continues until
the timer at the eNB reaches the limit T.sub.0. In this case, the
eNB assumes a Negative ACK (NACK) response and resends the packet
(or another version). In the scheme 400, the TUE does not actually
transmit a NACK response if the packet is not successfully decoded.
The second level distributed HARQ uses the participation of UEs
within the ViMP node without synchronization with the eNB (or the
network) and without using scheduling within the ViMP node.
[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a two-level HARQ scheme
500 with NACK feedback within a ViMP node, which can be used in the
HARQ mechanism 300. At a first level of the HARQ scheme 500, a eNB
(or BS) sends a packet to a ViMP node (or UE group), and a timer is
started at the eNB. While the timer <T.sub.0, the TUE and CUEs
within the ViMP node try to decode the packet, and the CUEs that
successfully decode the packet send a broadcast packet within ViMP
node. At the second level HARQ within the ViMP node, if the packet
is not successfully decoded by the TUE, then the TUE broadcasts a
NACK message within the ViMP Rx node. Thus, the CUEs that can
decode the packet, either from the first eNB transmission or from a
broadcast by other CUEs, broadcast the packet or another version
within the ViMP node. The second level HARQ process within the ViMP
Rx node continues until the packet is successfully decoded by the
TUE. In this case, an ACK is broadcast within the ViMP node and
sent to the eNB. Otherwise, the second level HARQ process within
the ViMP Rx node continues until the timer at the eNB reaches a
limit. In this case, the eNB assumes a NACK and resends the packet
or another version. In the scheme 500, the CUEs rebroadcast the
packet at the second level HARQ within the ViMP node if or upon
receiving the NACK from the TUE. The second level distributed HARQ
uses the participation of UEs within the ViMP node without
synchronization with the eNB (or the network) and without using
scheduling within the ViMP node.
[0028] FIG. 6 illustrates a time/frequency resource grid 600 from
all UEs 620 (including TUEs and CUEs) in a ViMP node. For decoding
at a TUE, transmissions from different CUEs are separated in the
time/frequency/code domain (or any combinations thereof) to
distinguish between them at the TUE. In one embodiment, different
HARQ redundancy versions/LDPC codewords are mapped to orthogonal
signatures and sent from different CUEs. The TUE accumulates the
soft information received from all CUEs along with the information
that the TUE received from the BS to try to decode the packets.
[0029] The target UE can be declared in different levels explicitly
or implicitly in the control channel, where the target UE is known
to the group, or explicitly or implicitly in the data packet, where
the target UE is only known after the data is correctly decoded.
With a clear target UE at control channel, the target UE may send a
NACK if it does not receive the packet. Without a clear target UE
at control channel, the system may lack an explicit NACK signaling.
The NACK may be implicitly implied when no ACK is received.
[0030] The ACK/NACK signaling to the network can be sent by the TUE
or the CUE. It can be done proactively (by any UE in the group
receiving it) or reactively by the TUE only. Proactively, each UE
in the group, which receives the data, sends back an ACK and takes
responsibility for data forwarding. A NACK may be in this case
implied by not sending an ACK message. If more than one UE receives
the data, the ACK signal from the UEs may be combined over the air.
A beacon UE is a UE in the group (probably with the best channel
and not necessarily the TUE) that takes care of the ACK channel.
Reactively, the TUE sends ACK/NACK after it receives help from
other UEs considering the process and forwarding time.
[0031] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a processing system 700 that
can be used to implement various embodiments. Specific devices may
utilize all of the components shown, or only a subset of the
components, and levels of integration may vary from device to
device. Furthermore, a device may contain multiple instances of a
component, such as multiple processing units, processors, memories,
transmitters, receivers, etc. The processing system 700 may
comprise a processing unit 701 equipped with one or more
input/output devices, such as a speaker, microphone, mouse,
touchscreen, keypad, keyboard, printer, display, and the like. The
processing unit 701 may include a central processing unit (CPU)
710, a memory 720, a mass storage device 730, a video adapter 740,
and an I/O interface 750 connected to a bus. The bus may be one or
more of any type of several bus architectures including a memory
bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a video bus, or the
like.
[0032] The CPU 710 may comprise any type of electronic data
processor. The memory 720 may comprise any type of system memory
such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access
memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), a
combination thereof, or the like. In an embodiment, the memory 720
may include ROM for use at boot-up, and DRAM for program and data
storage for use while executing programs. The mass storage device
730 may comprise any type of storage device configured to store
data, programs, and other information and to make the data,
programs, and other information accessible via the bus. The mass
storage device 730 may comprise, for example, one or more of a
solid state drive, hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an
optical disk drive, or the like.
[0033] The video adapter 740 and the I/O interface 760 provide
interfaces to couple external input and output devices to the
processing unit. As illustrated, examples of input and output
devices include a display 760 coupled to the video adapter 740 and
any combination of mouse/keyboard/printer 770 coupled to the I/O
interface 760. Other devices may be coupled to the processing unit
701, and additional or fewer interface cards may be utilized. For
example, a serial interface card (not shown) may be used to provide
a serial interface for a printer.
[0034] The processing unit 701 also includes one or more network
interfaces 750, which may comprise wired links, such as an Ethernet
cable or the like, and/or wireless links to access nodes or one or
more networks 780. The network interface 750 allows the processing
unit 701 to communicate with remote units via the networks 780. For
example, the network interface 750 may provide wireless
communication via one or more transmitters/transmit antennas and
one or more receivers/receive antennas. In an embodiment, the
processing unit 701 is coupled to a local-area network or a
wide-area network for data processing and communications with
remote devices, such as other processing units, the Internet,
remote storage facilities, or the like.
[0035] Although the present invention and its advantages have been
described in detail, it should be understood that various changes,
substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is
not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the
process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means,
methods and steps described in the specification. As one of
ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the
disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines,
manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps,
presently existing or later to be developed, that perform
substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same
result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be
utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the
appended claims are intended to include within their scope such
processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means,
methods, or steps.
* * * * *